La position des pronoms d’objet

As explained on the pages for le/la/l'/les and for lui/leur, direct and indirect object pronouns are always placed in front of the verb. However, there are many different verb tenses in French as well as sentences involving more than one verb. This page explains each situation.


Au présent et au futur simple:
In present and future tenses, there is one simple verb. In both cases, the pronoun goes in front of the one verb. If the sentence is negative, the pronoun stays right in front of the verb inside the ne...pas.

Je la lis. (I read it.)
Nous y penserons. (We will think about it.)
Tu ne lui parle pas. (You do not talk to him.)
Elles ne les donneront pas. (They will not give those.)


Au passé composé:
The past tense in French technically has two parts (avoir/être and the verb itself), but for the purposes of pronouns, it is considered to be one verb. Therefore, the pronoun is placed in front of the avoir/être part. If the sentence is negative however, the ne...pas only goes around the pronoun and the avoir/être part, not around the whole verb.
Vous y avez répondu. (You answered to it.)
Il en a eu besoin. (He needed some.)
Elle ne leur a pas répondu. (She didn't answer to them.)
Ils ne l'ont pas aimé. (They did not like it.)


Avec un infinitif:
When there is more than one verb in a sentence, as in a conjugated verb followed by an infinitive, the pronoun is placed in front of the second verb. If the sentence is negative, the ne...pas only goes around the first verb, not the pronoun and the second verb.

Je déteste le manger. (I hate eating it.)
Tu ne veux pas lui parler. (You do not want to talk to him.)
Elle ne va pas y venir. (She is not going to come here.)